Generative psychotherapy is an exploration of how individuals can forge positive, therapeutic responses to life challenges. This invited address concentrates on the three core connections that allow clients to do this: (1) Positive intention and goals (What do you most want to create in your life?); (2) Somatic Centering (Where do you feel the deepest resonance in your body?); and (3) Field Resources (What can most deeply support your path of change?). I will describe how these connections are absent in a repetitive problem and, more importantly, how their presence allows positive changes in difficult areas—e.g., a past trauma, a present difficulty, or a future possibility. Clinical examples and technique description will illustrate how such positive transformational states can be practically developed.

Educational Objectives

Identify three methods for developing therapeutic change.

Describe three techniques for connecting a client to a positive, skill-based state of being.

Identify 3 methods for steering a therapeutic conversation to a positive focus.